DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Army Expected To Pick JLTV Winner Soon
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Brendan McGarry | Wednesday, August 19th, 2015 7:36 pm
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 20, 2015: Defense contractors competing for a contract to build the U.S. military’s replacement to the iconic Humvee are eagerly awaiting a decision from the Army.
Humvee-maker AM General, truck-maker Oshkosh Corp. and defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin Corp. are vying to begin production of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, or JLTV.
An announcement on which company will be chosen to build the first 17,000 production models of the vehicle is expected either this week or next, sources told Military.com.
Overall, the Army and the Marine Corps plan to buy a total of 54,720 JLTVs to replace about a third of the Humvee fleet at an estimated cost of more than $30 billion, or about $559,000 per vehicle, according to Pentagon budget documents.
That figure, which rose from earlier estimates, includes expenses for research and development, overhead and add-on equipment such as radios, weapons and armor. Officials have said the cost of manufacturing the vehicle alone will be about $250,000.
The companies submitted their final bids to the Army in February. Each of the firms previously delivered 22 prototypes for testing under an earlier contract.
Over the past decade, the Pentagon spent nearly $50 billion buying 25,000 or so of the bigger, mine-resistant ambush protected, or MRAP, vehicles as part of a rapid-acquisition effort spearheaded by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates to better protect troops from roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Thousands of the hulking vehicles were subsequently scrapped, mothballed or handed down to local police departments because the military never intended them to be a permanent part of the tactical wheeled vehicle fleet.
Now, the Army and Marine Corps are trying to incorporate some of the lessons learned from the wars into a lighter vehicle. “As we move forward, it will be a central piece of the Army,” former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said in June of the JLTV.
*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Brendan McGarry | Wednesday, August 19th, 2015 7:36 pm*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News *Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com ©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Asian Defense News: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Pentagon Describes Anti-ISIL Operations in Iraq
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth + DoD News, Defense Media Activity(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 19, 2014: (WASHINGTON) The U.S. military used fighters, bombers, attack, and unmanned aircraft to conduct 35 strikes that eliminated ISIL positions in and around the Mosul Dam complex, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement released yesterday.
Kirby’s statement reads as follows:Over the past 72 hours, at the request of the Iraqi government, the U.S. military used fighters, bombers, attack, and unmanned aircraft to conduct 35 strikes that eliminated ISIL positions in and around the Mosul Dam complex. In all, we destroyed over 90 targets including a range of vehicles, equipment, and fighting positions.
Iraqi forces have cleared the dam and are working to further expand their area of control. Secretary Hagel remains extraordinarily proud of the men and women serving on land and sea who conducted these operations.
He knows they stand ready to continue such missions as needed. Secretary Hagel also commends the way in which Iraqi forces worked together in this operation. It reflects the growing determination of Iraqis to fight back against ISIL.
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*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth + DoD News, Defense Media Activity*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News *Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com ©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Asian Defense News: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Pentagon Confirms New Chinese Long-Range ICBM Development
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Bill Gertz(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 8, 2014: China is developing a new long-range intercontinental ballistic missile with multiple nuclear warheads as part of a large-scale strategic and conventional forces buildup, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday in its annual report to Congress.
“China also is developing a new road-mobile ICBM known as the Dong Feng-41 (DF-41), possibly capable of carrying multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRV),” the report says.
It was the first time since 2007 that the Pentagon acknowledged the development of the road-mobile DF-41, which U.S. officials said was test launched twice since 2012, most recently in December.
The Washington Free Beacon first disclosed details of the DF-41 last year. The missile is part of China’s large-scale strategic nuclear missile buildup, that includes three other ICBMs, the DF-31, DF-31A road-mobile missiles, and the JL-2 submarine-launched missiles.
The DF-41 is assessed by U.S. intelligence agencies of being capable of carrying up to 10 MIRVs.
“We have been seeing pictures of [the DF-41] since 2007, but now we know that the Pentagon knows that [People’s Liberation Army] PLA nuclear warheads will be increasing faster with the introduction of this ICBM,” said Rick Fisher, a China military analyst with the International Assessment and Strategy Center.
“The Second Artillery continues to modernize its nuclear forces by enhancing its silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and adding more survivable mobile delivery systems,” the Pentagon report said, referring to China’s Second Artillery Corps, as the strategic nuclear missile forces service is known.
The report also said China has deployed three Jin-class ballistic missile submarines and that up to five of the submarines will be built before a newer generation missile submarine comes online.
“China is likely to conduct its first nuclear deterrence patrols with the JIN-class SSBN in 2014,” the report said.
The Pentagon said that China’s new generation of mobile missiles with multiple warheads and penetration aids designed to defeat U.S. missile defenses “are intended to ensure the viability of China’s strategic deterrent in the face of continued advances in U.S. and, to a lesser extent, Russian strategic [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance], precision strike, and missile defense capabilities.”
In addition to new missiles, the Chinese military is deploying new command, control, and communications for its nuclear forces, an enhancement the Pentagon assessed is making its strategic forces more lethal.
“Through the use of improved communications links, China’s ICBM units now have better access to battlefield information and uninterrupted communications connecting all command echelons, and unit commanders are able to issue orders to multiple subordinates at once, instead of serially, via voice commands,” the report said.
On cyber warfare, the report said China, along with Russia, is seeking to promote intergovernmental control over the Internet. China has been a major promoter of seeking to remove control of the Internet from the United States.
Once focused mainly on developing weapons and tactics for a conflict over Taiwan, the Pentagon now regards China’s military buildup as expanding beyond a Taiwan contingency.
“China is investing in military programs and weapons designed to improve extended-range power projection and operations in emerging domains such as cyberspace, space, and electronic warfare,” the report said.
The Chinese military is developing high-technology forces as part of what Beijing calls “informationization” capabilities.
In addition to kinetic, battlefield weapons such as its large-scale missile and naval forces, China also is working on a military capability to launch an “information blockade” during a conflict. China “envisions the use of military and non- instruments of state power across the battlespace, including in cyberspace and outer space to deny information superiority to its adversaries,” the report said.
“China’s investments in advanced electronic warfare systems, counterspace weapons, and computer network operations —combined with propaganda and denial through opacity—reflect the emphasis and priority China’s leaders place on building capability for information advantage,” the Pentagon said.
Chinese military and government hackers also are continuing cyber attacks against the Pentagon the report said.
“In 2013, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the U.S. government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military,” the report said.
“These intrusions were focused on exfiltrating information,” the report said. “China is using its computer network exploitation capability to support intelligence collection against the U.S. diplomatic, economic, and defense industrial base sectors that support U.S. national defense programs.”
The report for the first time said China’s buildup of air forces is significant, and includes two new radar-evading warplanes and several armed drones.
China’s air force “is pursuing modernization on a scale unprecedented in its history and is rapidly closing the gap with Western air forces across a broad spectrum of capabilities including aircraft, command and control, jammers, electronic warfare, and data links,” the report said.
Most of its jet fighters will be advanced, fourth-generation fighters within the next several years, including two new stealth fighters, the J-20 and the J-31.
The J-31 “is similar in size to a U.S. F-35 fighter and appears to incorporate design characteristics similar to the J-20,” the report said.
The H-6 bomber fleet has been upgraded to increase its lethality by deploying new standoff weapons on the aircraft, such as anti-ship cruise missiles and land attack cruise missiles.
“Modernizing the H-6 into a cruise missile carrier has given the PLA Air Force a long-range stand-off offensive capability with precision-guided munitions,” the report said.
China also is modernizing its ground forces with rapid deployment capabilities over long distances, along with advanced special operations forces.
Strategically, the Pentagon report states that the Chinese military has adopted what is being called “new historic missions” that seek to bolster the power of the ruling Communist Party of China.
The report highlights China’s ongoing territorial disputes, mainly in the South China Sea against Vietnam and Philippines and in the East China Sea against Japan.
In the South China Sea, the Pentagon criticized China for not observing international maritime laws during a dangerous encounter in December involving the USS Cowpens, a guided missile cruiser.
The Cowpens was sailing in international waters 32 miles south of China’s Hainan Island when it was harassed by two Chinese naval vessels.
“Two PLA Navy vessels approached USS Cowpens,” the report said. “During this interaction, one of the PLA Navy vessels altered course and crossed directly in front of the bow of USS Cowpens. This maneuver by the PLA Navy vessel forced USS Cowpens to come to full stop to avoid collision, while the PLA Navy vessel passed less than 100 yards ahead.”
The action was “inconsistent with internationally recognized rules concerning professional maritime behavior,” the report said.
The Free Beacon first disclosed the dangerous encounter involving the Cowpens in December.
Fisher, the China military affairs expert, said the latest report, which omitted all photos of Chinese military hardware, appeared to be part of the Obama administration’s policy of not portraying the PLA as a Cold War enemy.
Still, “the 2014 Pentagon PLA report has come a long way to presenting a more useful listing of China’s military direction,” Fisher said.
“But it is now time for this report to take the next step,” he said. “It needs to become an illustrated book translated into multiple languages. This document defines the Chinese military’s trajectory more than any other statement by any other country—which is why the Chinese government hates it and wants to shut it down.”
The Pentagon for the first time in its annual report also discloses brief details of China’s development of missile defenses.
China’s government has denounced U.S. and allied missile defenses as destabilizing Asia.
However, China has been secretly developing anti-missile capabilities at the same time.
“While specialists have been watching this since the 1990s, it is time to assess that the U.S. deterrent posture must now factor in a future Chinese national missile defense capability,” Fisher said.
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*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Bill Gertz*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News *Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com ©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Asian Defense News: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Waived Laws To Keep F-35 on Track With China-Made Parts
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Reuters(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 4, 2014: The Pentagon repeatedly waived laws banning Chinese-built components on U.S. weapons in order to keep the $392 billion Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter program on track in 2012 and 2013, even as U.S. officials were voicing concern about China's espionage and military buildup.
According to Pentagon documents reviewed by Reuters, chief U.S. arms buyer Frank Kendall allowed two F-35 suppliers, Northrop Grumman Corp and Honeywell International Inc, to use Chinese magnets for the new warplane's radar system, landing gears and other hardware. Without the waivers, both companies could have faced sanctions for violating federal law and the F-35 program could have faced further delays.
"It was a pretty big deal and an unusual situation because there's a prohibition on doing defense work in China, even if it's inadvertent," said Frank Kenlon, who recently retired as a senior Pentagon procurement official and now teaches at American University. "I'd never seen this happen before."
The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, is examining three such cases involving the F-35, the U.S. military's next generation fighter, the documents show.
The GAO report, due March 1, was ordered by U.S. lawmakers, who say they are concerned that Americans firms are being shut out of the specialty metals market, and that a U.S. weapon system may become dependent on parts made by a potential future adversary.
The waivers apply to inexpensive parts, including $2 magnets, installed on 115 F-35 test, training and production aircraft, the last of which are due to be delivered in May 2014. Lawmakers noted that several U.S. companies make similar magnets.
Kendall said the waivers were needed to keep production, testing and training of the Pentagon's newest warplane on track; avert millions of dollars in retrofit costs; and prevent delays in the Marine Corps' plan to start using the jets in combat from mid-2015, according to the documents. In one case, it would cost $10.8 million and take about 25,000 man-hours to remove the Chinese-made magnets and replace them with American ones, the documents indicate.
Lockheed is developing the F-35, the Pentagon's costliest arms program, for the United States and eight countries that helped fund its development: Britain, Canada, Australia, Italy, Norway, Turkey, Denmark and the Netherlands. Israel and Japan have also placed orders for the jet.
The program is already years behind schedule and 70 percent over initial cost estimates. At the time Kendall was granting the waivers, officials were acutely worried that further delays and cost increases would erode the foreign orders needed to drive down the future cost of each warplane.
In the documents, Kendall underscored the importance of the F-35 program to ensure continued U.S. military superiority and counter potential emerging threats from nations developing their own stealth fighter jets, including Russia and China.
He said additional delays would force the United States and its allies to keep its legacy fighters flying longer, which would result in higher maintenance costs. It would also leave them with older jets, which Kendall said "cannot match the offensive and defensive capabilities provided by F-35."
The Pentagon first disclosed problems with non-U.S. magnets in a little-noticed written statement to Congress in the spring of 2013. But the statement did not name companies involved and did not disclose that some of the parts came from China.
Officials at Northrop, Honeywell and Lockheed declined to comment on the issue, referring queries to the Pentagon.
Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) at the Pentagon, said the office was committed to ensuring that federal defense acquisition laws were strictly followed.
"There was never any risk of technology transfer or other security breach associated with these manufacturing compliance issues," he said. "The JPO is working with industry to put in place long-term solutions to avoid the need for future waivers."
In his statement to Congress, Kendall said he took the matter "extremely seriously" and said Lockheed was told to take aggressive steps to identify any further cases, and correct its compliance process.
Bill Greenwalt, a former senior defense official and now an analyst with the American Enterprise Institute think tank, said the risk to national security appeared low since the magnets in question had no programmable hardware.
However, he added: "This is an area that will need considerable due diligence in the future to ensure that components for more high-risk applications are safe from potential tampering and foreign mischief."
SPECIALTY METALS
Since 1973, U.S. laws have banned the procurement of specialty metals produced outside the United States for use on U.S. weapons. A separate 2006 law also bans the purchase of end-use items and components that include such specialty metals.
The documents reviewed by Reuters show that Northrop first discovered the use of non-compliant Japanese magnets on the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar it builds for the F-35 in August 2012, alerting the prime contractor, Lockheed, which then told the Pentagon.
A subsequent investigation of all parts on the F-35 turned up two more cases in which non-U.S. specialty metals were used on the F-35's radar, and on target assemblies built by Honeywell that are used for positioning doors and landing gear.
Northrop's radar was also found to contain $2 magnets made by Chengdu Magnetic Material Science & Technology Co, in China's Sichuan region, according to the documents.
The magnets used on the Honeywell target assemblies were acquired through Illinois-based Dexter Magnetic Technologies Inc.
Dexter and Chengdu Magnetic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
KNOWING AND WILLFUL?
In June, the House Armed Services Committee asked the GAO to determine whether the companies involved "knowingly and willfully" supplied non-compliant magnets, and how the Pentagon investigated that question. The committee also asked GAO for recommendations on potential changes, such as fines or penalties for non-compliance to deter future problems, as well as suggestions for beefing up Pentagon supply chain management procedures.
In a document approving use of Chinese magnets on the batch of 32 F-35 fighter planes now being built, Kendall said neither Lockheed nor Northrop knowingly allowed the parts to be used.
In his waiver, Kendall wrote that Northrop's initial mistake, involving magnets built in Japan, was an "administrative oversight" and noted the firm quickly reported the matter when it was discovered in August 2012. It led to the comprehensive review that found two additional issues involving Chinese-built magnets.
It is not clear from the waiver documents whether Kendall determined that Honeywell's use of Chinese-built magnets involved a similar mistake.
(Editing by Michael Williams, Tiffany Wu and Grant McCool)
*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Reuters*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News *Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com ©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Asian Defense News: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: US-Russian Helicopter Deal Under Fire
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Defense News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 10, 2013: The US government is under fire for allegedly misleading the Congress into buying Russian transport helicopters for US troops in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon ordered 63 Russian Mi-17 rotorcrafts worth $1 billion over the past two years.
According to the Associated Press, senior Pentagon officials have repeatedly assured members of Congress that the Department of Defense had made the right call, citing a top-secret 2010 study that named the Mi-17 as the superior choice.
The report also states the Boeing Chinook was found to be “the most cost-effective single platform type fleet for the Afghan Air Force over a twenty-year” period.
The 2010 study "specifically analyzed the opportunity for DOD to provide a U.S. alternative to the Mi-17 for Afghanistan," the report said, adding the Boeing helicopter is larger than its Russian counterpart, carries up to a 26,000 pound payload, which is twice as much as the Mi-17, and can operate at nearly the same high altitude.*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Defense News*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News *Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com ©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Asian Defense News: DTN News - KARZAI AT PENTAGON: Panetta Hosts Arrival Ceremony, Meets With Afghan President At Pentagon
Source: DTN News (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 12, 2013: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday met with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at the Pentagon to discuss the security transition in Afghanistan.
At a press conference after the meeting, Panetta said he had an hour-long, one-on-one meeting with Karzai to discuss "the ongoing transition to Afghan security lead, as well as the commitment of the United States to Afghanistan" after the completion of the transition by the end of 2014.
Panetta said both leaders believe the transition plan is " working, and we're fully committed to finishing the job," and they believed they are "moving in the right direction."
At a welcoming ceremony earlier in the day, Panetta assured Karzai of continued U.S. commitment as the last chapter of security transition has begun. According to U.S. President Barack Obama's withdrawal plan, U.S. combat forces will be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014, after transferring security lead to the Afghans.
Meanwhile, the two countries are negotiating a bilateral security agreement that would define the U.S. role in Afghanistan post-2014. Karzai, who will meet Obama on Friday, said at the Pentagon he believed the United States and Afghanistan can work out the way forward for a bilateral security agreement "that will ensure the interests of Afghanistan, and also the interests of the United States."
*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith - DTN News *Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News *This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com ©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 20, 2015: Defense contractors competing for a contract to build the U.S. military’s replacement to the iconic Humvee are eagerly awaiting a decision from the Army.
